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Apple Says No to App Developers

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Apple Says, No Permission-No Recording

So the big news the last few days has been apps that have been recording your screen actions without your permission.

It’s a bit over my head, but it’s actually a third-party company, GlassBox, that is collecting the data with their software and providing the data to the other app developers. App developers were given 24 hours to remove the recording coding, or their app would be deleted from the App Store.

Some of the apps using this third-party company, GlassBox, are:

Abercrombie & Fitch

Hollister

Expedia

Hotels.com

Singapore Airlines

Air Canada

Apple’s Policy

Apple’s policy explicitly prohibits screen recording, by all apps unless you agree to each swipe, etc. being recorded. The app would also have to notify you with something like a pop up message that your screen actions were being recorded at that time.

Just to be clear, the apps were not able to record you or your actions, but the websites you visited, swipes to buy things, and what you liked and didn’t like on social media.

FaceBook had some functionality shut down by Apple for allegedly paying teens for letting FaceBook record every swipe and chat! Darn you FaceBook!

Included below is a link from TechCrunch, who wrote the original article.

Recommendation

For your peace of mind or you want to take that extra step to be secure, change your passwords on your device and bank account apps if you used one of these apps above. Just as a precaution and it never hurts to periodically change your password!